Can wound care ointment prevent peeling

Most wound care ointments that meet the indications can indeed prevent peeling during the wound recovery period, but it is not a "universal antidote" for all peeling conditions. If used incorrectly, it may aggravate the peeling problem.

I often encounter the problem of skin peeling when I usually deal with minor wounds at home and help friends follow up on medical and art after-care. Let’s take the recovery process of my friend’s knee bruise last month as an example. After the scab fell off, the new skin was so thin that it turned into powder, dried out into fine white flakes, and wore jeans. It was itchy and prickly, and she couldn't help but want to tear it off. I gave her a basic wound care ointment with only petrolatum and panthenol, and told her to apply a thin layer after bathing every day, without applying too thickly to suffocate the skin. After only three or four days, she said she no longer had any flakes, and she no longer had the tight feeling she had before.

It’s actually easy to understand why it works at this time. Peeling during the wound recovery period is mostly caused by the poor ability of new epithelial cells to retain water and the gradual peeling off of old necrotic skin cells on the surface. Most qualified wound care ointments have sealing and moisturizing ingredients, which are equivalent to giving delicate skin care. The new skin is covered with a breathable "protective film", which can not only reduce external stimulation, but also lock the moisture on the surface of the skin, which can naturally reduce dryness and peeling. Some ointments with added repair ingredients can also accelerate epidermal repair and reduce the probability of abnormal peeling from the root cause.

However, many people say that after using it, the peeling is more severe. This is not really because the ointment is useless, but because it is not used in the right place. A while ago, a netizen sent me a private message saying that his hands were peeling for several days. He randomly took out the wound care ointment he kept at home and applied it for two days. The peeling became more serious and he also developed a small red rash. After going to the hospital for a checkup, he found out that the peeling was ringworm of the hand caused by a fungal infection. Using an ointment with strong occlusive properties is equivalent to "covering" the fungus with a quilt, but it accelerates the reproduction of the fungus. Of course, the more you apply it, the worse it gets. If you suffer from peeling caused by skin problems such as eczema or seborrheic dermatitis, or generalized peeling caused by lack of vitamins or too dry weather, using wound care ointment is basically useless. If it is not symptomatic, it will increase the burden on the skin.

To put it bluntly, if you have dry peeling that occurs during the recovery period of abrasions, cuts, moles, photorejuvenation, or other clear wounds/wounds after medical or aesthetic surgery, choose a wound care ointment with simple and non-irritating ingredients and apply it thinly.